Meldemannstraße dormitory
Encyclopedia
The men's dormitory on Meldemannstraße 27 in Brigittenau
district, Vienna
, Austria
was a public dormitory
for men from 1905 to 2003. It is a subject of public interest primarily because it was the residence of Adolf Hitler
, the later dictator of Nazi Germany
, from 1910 to 1913.
, often shift workers from the countryside, who paid a small fee for the use of a bed in a private house for a few hours during the day. In 1910, they numbered 80,000 in Vienna, and were regarded as a threat to the morals of the host family.
The six-story dormitory was among the most modern facilities of its kind when it was opened in 1905. It was lit by gas lamp
s and light bulbs, and heated by a modern steam heater. On the ground floor, it featured a mess hall, a reading room with daily newspapers and a library. The underground floor held cleaning rooms, a luggage room, a bicycle storage room as well as a shoemaker's and a tailor
's workshop. Moreover, the dormitory included a sick room with a resident physician, a disinfection chamber for the de-lousing
of new residents, washroom
s, a shaving room and a bathroom with sixteen showers and four bathtubs.
The actual dormitory was located on the upper four stories. Each of the up to 544 residents had a small cabin to his own, measuring 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) by 2.17 metres (7.1 ft). The cabins, which were unlocked each evening at 8 p.m. and had to be vacated by 9 a.m., had a lockable door, a lightbulb, a bed, a small table, a clothes-hanger and a mirror.
The weekly rent was 2.50 crowns
, about as much as a Bettgeher would have to pay for the use of a bed, which made it a very affordable lodging for unskilled labourers or journeyman artisans with an annual income of about 1,000 crowns. When the dormitory opened, the Viennese press praised it as "fantastical quarters, a paradise on earth" and as a "wonder of elegance and inexpensiveness".
– at the time unemployed and living off the sale of his paintings – lived in the dormitory for three years, 9 February 1910 to 24 May 1913. He had moved in from a homeless shelter
in Meidling
, where he had stayed since December 1909, and moved to Munich
in 1913 after receiving his father's inheritance.
Hitler himself appears to have provided no details about his daily life in Vienna, but several of his co-residents later published their recollections of Hitler's stay in the dormitory. They report that he read the newspapers each morning in the non-smoking area of the reading room, where he also painted, discussed politics with other residents and gave speeches.
Among the men who wrote about Hitler's residence in the dormitory were Reinhold Hanisch
, a vagabond and part-time labourer who died in prison in 1937 under unclear circumstances and whose recollections were published in The New Republic
in 1939; one Karl Honisch who wrote a report for the Nazi party archives in 1938; Josef Greiner
, a worker who published slim memoirs in 1938 and 1947; and an anonymous man who wrote reports that appeared in Czech newspapers in the 1930s.
Other co-residents of the dormitory with whom Hitler was involved included his Jewish friends Eduard Löffner and Josef Neumann, the Viennese druggist Rudolf Häusler who moved to Munich with Hitler in 1913, and a rival painter, Karl Leidenroth.
. Prior to its closure on 28 November 2003, the dormitory served in 2002 and 2003 as the venue of regular productions of George Tabori
's play Mein Kampf, whose subject is Hitler's stay in Vienna.
After its closure, the building was briefly occupied by squatters
. In 2007, the former dormitory was converted to a retirement home
with 200 rooms, named Seniorenschlössl Brigittenau, which opened in January 2009.
Brigittenau
Brigittenau is the 20th District of Vienna . It is located north of the central districts, north of Leopoldstadt on the same island area between the Danube and the Danube Canal...
district, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
was a public dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
for men from 1905 to 2003. It is a subject of public interest primarily because it was the residence of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, the later dictator of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, from 1910 to 1913.
The dormitory in the 1900s
The construction of the dormitory in 1905 was financed by a private charitable foundation which aimed at reducing the number of Bettgeher ("bed-goers") in Vienna. Bettgeher were poor people with no fixed abodeNo fixed abode
No fixed abode or without fixed abode is a legal term generally applied to those who do not have a fixed geographical location as their residence...
, often shift workers from the countryside, who paid a small fee for the use of a bed in a private house for a few hours during the day. In 1910, they numbered 80,000 in Vienna, and were regarded as a threat to the morals of the host family.
The six-story dormitory was among the most modern facilities of its kind when it was opened in 1905. It was lit by gas lamp
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
s and light bulbs, and heated by a modern steam heater. On the ground floor, it featured a mess hall, a reading room with daily newspapers and a library. The underground floor held cleaning rooms, a luggage room, a bicycle storage room as well as a shoemaker's and a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
's workshop. Moreover, the dormitory included a sick room with a resident physician, a disinfection chamber for the de-lousing
Pediculosis
Pediculosis is an infestation of lice — blood-feeding ectoparasitic insects of the order Phthiraptera. The condition can occur in almost any species of warm-blooded animal , including humans...
of new residents, washroom
Washroom
A public toilet is a room or small building containing one or more toilets and possibly also urinals which is available for use by the general public, or in a broader meaning of "public", by customers of other...
s, a shaving room and a bathroom with sixteen showers and four bathtubs.
The actual dormitory was located on the upper four stories. Each of the up to 544 residents had a small cabin to his own, measuring 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) by 2.17 metres (7.1 ft). The cabins, which were unlocked each evening at 8 p.m. and had to be vacated by 9 a.m., had a lockable door, a lightbulb, a bed, a small table, a clothes-hanger and a mirror.
The weekly rent was 2.50 crowns
Austro-Hungarian krone
The Krone or korona was the official currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1892 until the dissolution of the empire in 1918...
, about as much as a Bettgeher would have to pay for the use of a bed, which made it a very affordable lodging for unskilled labourers or journeyman artisans with an annual income of about 1,000 crowns. When the dormitory opened, the Viennese press praised it as "fantastical quarters, a paradise on earth" and as a "wonder of elegance and inexpensiveness".
Adolf Hitler's stay
According to police registration files, Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
– at the time unemployed and living off the sale of his paintings – lived in the dormitory for three years, 9 February 1910 to 24 May 1913. He had moved in from a homeless shelter
Homeless shelter
Homeless shelters are temporary residences for homeless people which seek to protect vulnerable populations from the often devastating effects of homelessness while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact on the community...
in Meidling
Meidling
Meidling is the 12th district of Vienna . It is located just southwest of the central districts, south of the Wienfluss, west of the Gürtel belt, and east and southeast of Schönbrunn palace...
, where he had stayed since December 1909, and moved to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
in 1913 after receiving his father's inheritance.
Hitler himself appears to have provided no details about his daily life in Vienna, but several of his co-residents later published their recollections of Hitler's stay in the dormitory. They report that he read the newspapers each morning in the non-smoking area of the reading room, where he also painted, discussed politics with other residents and gave speeches.
Among the men who wrote about Hitler's residence in the dormitory were Reinhold Hanisch
Reinhold Hanisch
Reinhold Hanisch was an Austrian migrant worker and sometime business partner of the young Adolf Hitler. Hanisch, who published articles on Hitler, with whom he had lived in 1910, is, next to August Kubizek, one of the few witnesses to Hitler's Vienna years...
, a vagabond and part-time labourer who died in prison in 1937 under unclear circumstances and whose recollections were published in The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
in 1939; one Karl Honisch who wrote a report for the Nazi party archives in 1938; Josef Greiner
Josef Greiner
Josef Greiner was an Austrian writer. He supposedly knew Adolf Hitler during Hitler's time in Vienna and later published two memoirs on this topic, for which he is best known.-Biography:...
, a worker who published slim memoirs in 1938 and 1947; and an anonymous man who wrote reports that appeared in Czech newspapers in the 1930s.
Other co-residents of the dormitory with whom Hitler was involved included his Jewish friends Eduard Löffner and Josef Neumann, the Viennese druggist Rudolf Häusler who moved to Munich with Hitler in 1913, and a rival painter, Karl Leidenroth.
Later history
In the 1990s, the Viennese city government decided to close the timeworn dormitory, which now served as a shelter for the homeless, in favour of a new shelter in FloridsdorfFloridsdorf
Floridsdorf is the 21st district of Vienna, Austria .Floridsdorf is located in the northern part of Vienna.The District Office and the centre of Floridsdorf are located round Am Spitz, at the junction of Prager Straße and Brünner Straße .Since 2004, Floridsdorf has had its own tower: the...
. Prior to its closure on 28 November 2003, the dormitory served in 2002 and 2003 as the venue of regular productions of George Tabori
George Tabori
George Tabori was a Hungarian writer and theater director.-Life and career:Tabori was born in Budapest as György Tábori, a son of Kornél and Elsa Tábori. His father died in Auschwitz in 1944, but his mother and his brother Paul managed to escape the Nazis. His son Peter Tabori and again his son...
's play Mein Kampf, whose subject is Hitler's stay in Vienna.
After its closure, the building was briefly occupied by squatters
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
. In 2007, the former dormitory was converted to a retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
with 200 rooms, named Seniorenschlössl Brigittenau, which opened in January 2009.